Shovel



H. C. COLE.

(No Model.)

SHOVEL'.

.Patented NOV. 9, 1886.

NO.- 352,224.l

wsses. l @f7 N. PETERS. Pnma-uchogmplmr. wasmngwn. D.c.

l. UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

, HENRY c. cOLE, OE WALLINGEOED, VERMONT.

i sHovEL.

" SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,224, dated November 9, 1886.

Application filed August 4, 1986. Serial No. 209,949. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY C. COLE, of Wallingford, in the county of Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shovels, of which the following is aspecitication.

My invention is applicable to snow-shovels, and also to shovels which are employed for malt, and which may be used for various other substances.

The invention relates to ashovel comprising a blade of wood, which has its grain commonly extending from side to side ofthe bladein a horizontaldirection, and a handle extending across the front of the blade,- and secured thereto midway of its side edges. In shovels of this class the blade has been armed at the bottom edge with a re-enforcing plate or shoe of metal,

i which in some cases Ahas simply projected slightly beyond the edge of the blade, and iu other cases has had its lower edge reverted-or turned backward, so as tov form a projecting lip underlying the `back of the blade. .The

lower end ofthe handle has also in some cases been protected by a cap independent of the edge plate, and secured to the handle and blade bya rivet, as shown in my UnitedStates Patent No. 265,387. Where the protectingcap for the handle is thus made separate from the edge plate and secured by a rivet, the cap is liable soon to become ydetached by reason of its rivet wearing Off or breaking, and the capv and its rivet, being raised above the general surface of the blade, are subjected to greatest wear.

One object of my invention is to prevent the protecting-cap which covers the end of the handle from soon becoming detached, as above described, and thereby leaving the handle without any end protection and to this end one feature of my invention consists inthe combination, with a shovel-blade, of wood, and a handle, of an edge plate extending across from side to side of the blade at the front thereof, and having between its ends an outwardly-oft`set or struck-up portion, forming, in connection with the blade, a socket to re# ceive the end of a handle. In theabove combination the end-protection cap forFthe handle, being formed integral with the edge plate of theblade, is very strong, and the strength which is afforded by the usual number of rivets inserted through theredge plate and blade throughout the entire length of the edge plate is availedcof to secure the cap in place.

In the case of shovels, to which my invention relates, the grain of the wood usually extends horizontally from side to side, as above described, and in order to prevent splitting of the blade the edges thereof have been grooved, as is shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 266,775, datedI October 2l, 1882, and in such grooves have been inserted re-enforcing strips of metal,secured in place by rivets passing through the blade and through the strips. Snowshovels are subjected toV very hard usage,

and are often placed in such positions that the.r

Water drips upon them, and in winter such Vshovels are for long periods of time in a constantly wet condition, with the -wood considerably swelled, while in summer they are allowed toV dry out thoroughly, and the wood correspondingly shrinks. Where the rivets, which secure the re-enforcing edge strips in place, are made fast in both the blade and the re-enforcing strips, such extreme shrinkage and swelling of the wood as takes place frequently causes the splitting of the blade, thereby rendering the shovel practically useless; and a further object of my invention is to obviate this difficulty.

To this end my invention also consists in the combination, with a wood shovel-blade having its grain extending horizontally from sideI to side, of re-enforcing strips extending vertically at the edges ofthe blades and slotted at the end or ends, and rivets inserted through the blade' and slotted strips and made fast in the woodof the blade, but free to playin the slots in the said strips, as the wood may shrink or swell by atmospheric changes or the different conditions to which it is subjected.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a faceview of a shovel embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a sectional view thereof upon the plane of the dotted line a: w, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a sectional view upon the plane of the dotted line yy, Fig. 1,but upon a larger scale 5 and Fig. 4 represents one of the re-enforcing edge strips detached, and upon the same scale. as Fig 3.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the blade of the shovel, and B IOO the handle, which, as here shown, extends across the face of the blade midway between its sides, and which may be secured by rivets or by screws inserted from the back of the blade. The blade is of wood, with its grain extending horizontally from side to side, and is usually of slight-ly curved form, as shown in Fig. 3.

At the lower edge of the blade is an edge plate, C, which may be secured to the blade by rivets c, inserted through the edge plate and blade, and at its opposite side edges the blade is provided with grooves, in which are inserted re-cnforcing strips of metal d, for preventing splitting of the blade when in use. These rc-enforcing strips of metal d are secured in' place by rivets e, inserted through the wood of the blade and through holes formed in the strips d.

rIhe edge plate, C. may be of sheet-irou or other metal, struck up in suitable shape, and it may have its lower edge reverted or turned backward, so as to forni a lip, e', for underlying the bottom edge ofthe blade, as shown in Fig. 3. The handle B is continued downward beyond the upper margin nf the edge plate, C, and the edgejplate has formed in it between its ends an offset portion or struck-up projection, -CQ which overlies the end of the handle B, and in connection with the blade fornis a socket for the reception of the handle. I have here represented one of the rivets c, which secures the edge plate, C, in place, as inserted directly through the offset or struck-up portion C and through the handle B. It will be observed that this offset or struck-up portion or projection C/ of the edge plate, C, forms a very secure protection of the end portion of the handle, and there is no joint or crevice between the end protection of the handle and the edge plate in which the grass or other refuse may catch, as there is when the end portion of the handle is protected by a cap formed separate from the edge plate and secured in place by a rivet. A very much greater advantage in forming the end protection for the handle integral with the edge plate, C, is that the strength of all the rivets c which are employed to secure the edge plate in place upon the blade is availed of to secure the end protection of the handle in place, and even if the head of the rivet e which passes through the handle becomes worn off, or if it falls out entirely, the end protection of the handle is not lost, but the edge plate and the offset or deflected portions C', which forms the end protection, are still held in place by the four or more remaining rivets.

In shovels of this character, as heretofore made, the rivets e, which pass through the edge portions of .the blade A and the re-enforcing strips d, have been passed or inserted through round holes in both the wood of the blade and the metal strips d, and as the wood of the blade has shrunk or swelled, owing to the varying conditions of its use and to the diiierent atmospheric conditions, the blade has frequently split directly across from side to side, because the metal re-enforciug strips d, will not yield to compensate for the swelling or shrinking of the blade.

In order to prevent splitting of the blade undersnch circumstances, I forinin one or each end of the re-cnforcing strips d an elongated opening or slot, d', through which the rivet c passes. rIhe rivet or rivets c are fast in the wood of the blade, and as the wood swells or shrinks the rivets c will move in the slots d', and will permit the wood of the blade to freely shrink or swell without any resistance from the rigid re-enforcing strips d. Slots d might be provided in both ends of the strips d; but this is not necessary, and I have in Fig. illustrated the strips as having a slot, d, in one end, and around hole for the reception of a rivetin the other end.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the shovclblade A, of wood, and the handle B, of an edge plate extending across from side to side of the blade at the front thereof and' having between its ends thc outwardly offset or struck-up portion C', forming, in connection with the blade, a socket to receive the end of the handle, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with the shovel-blade A, of wood, and the handle B, of the edge plate, C, extending across from side to side of the blade at the front thereof, having its edge portion'reverted or turned backward so as to lap on the back of the blade, and having between its ends the outwardly offset or struckup portion C', forming, in connection with the blade, a socket to receive the end of the handle, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, with the wood blade A, having its grain extending horizontally from side to side, of re-enforcing strips d, extending verticallyat the edges of the blade and slotted, as at d, and rivets inserted through the blade and slotted strips and made fast in the blade, but free to play in said slots as the wood may shrink or swell, substantially as herein described.

HENRY C. COLE.

Witnesses:

C. E. KINsMAN, JOHN E. MonrsoN.

IOC

IIO 

